[CIMC-work] grant's trial

[Emily Lonigro]

I wrote to grant and asked him to forward a writeup about his trial. here's what i received. there is a better photo in the upcoming events listing: 

Thanks very much!! M le.

I'm sending you the flier that was produced about the case.
 And I'll forward your note to the people working on press
around my case.  If you would like any more information you
could e-mail me specific questions or call me at
312/502-2202.  I've also attached a photo though there may
be more active photos of me in the indy-media archive.

Unfortunately I'm very busy and I don't like to write about
myself anyway.

G.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14TH
RALLY AND PRESS CONFERENCE 
BEFORE COURT:
8:30 p.m. - 1340 S. Michigan 
PACK THE COURTROOM: 
9:30 a.m. 5th Floor (Judge Sheehan


About Grant's case:

On March 20th, as bombs rained down on Baghdad, people in
the U.S. responded with a resounding “not in our name!” and
demonstrations in Chicago, across the U.S. and around the
world sent a powerful message to the U.S. government that
we joined together to resist this war and occupation. In
the U.S., police responded with viciousness, arresting
thousands from coast to coast. Here in Chicago hundreds of
people were corralled and surrounded by a wall of robocops
- 800 were arrested following our righteous demonstration
that shutdown Lake Shore Drive. This attack on our march
was an attack on our right to dissent & part of an effort
to shut down the anti-war movement at a critical juncture
in our effort to stop the war.

Since that time all the cases have been disposed of.  The
single case that's still being pursued is the case against
Grant Newburger. Grant is a prominent leader of our growing
anti-war movement and is someone who played an important
role in many of the protests and speakouts leading up to
the March 20th demonstration. 

Charged with “reckless conduct,” Grant goes on trial
October 14th and faces a possible year in jail.

Police Commander Risley personally had Grant plucked out of
the crowd and was heard to say: “We’ve been looking for you
all night. You’re under arrest.” With only a handful of
others, Grant remained in a jail cell for 33 hours,
preventing him from taking part in a major protest the
following day. Police use convictions as clubs against
leaders like Grant. Convictions can be used along with a
future conviction to hand out heavy jail time.  And any
conviction on March 20th protestors can be used to justify
their outrageous attacks on our movement.  We can’t let
this go down!
 
 Grant's been making too much trouble: He is an active
participant in the Not In Our Name Project and was a key
organizer for the October 6th Not In Our Name National Day
of Resistance that helped launch this powerful movement and
the March 5th National Moratorium that drew thousands of
youth into the streets. He’s a participant of Chicago
Coalition Against War and Racism (CCAWR) that initiated the
March 20th demonstration. Grant has also played a prominent
role in the battle to protect public housing. He helped to
initiate the Blue Triangle Network that’s building a
movement to stop the attacks on Arabs, Muslims, and South
Asians, he’s actively involved in the struggle to stop
police brutality. And he is well known as a revolutionary—a
supporter of the Revolutionary Communist Party.

When Grant was asked about the charge of “reckless
conduct,” he said—“This was anything but reckless conduct.
We were trying to stop a reckless invasion which has been
followed by a reckless occupation.” We can’t allow the
authorities to attack our right to dissent. The stakes are
too high! We can’t allow them to quietly pick off those of
us who are walking point. This is a time when many more
youth and others need to be stepping forward to help lead
our movement. They need to know that the movement will be
watching their back as we stand together with the people of
the world!        

Drop the Charge on Grant!  Political Protest is Not a
Crime!

Please take some time to write or call:
Refer to: People of Illinois v. Richard 


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